Daily Archives: March 7, 2016

Maria Sharapova speaks to the media announcing a failed drug test after the Australian Open during a press conference today at The LA Hotel Downtown.

Russian tennis superstar Maria Sharapova announced she has failed a drug test at a surprise press-conference in Los Angeles. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) said Sharapova has been suspended from competition pending a probe.

“Throughout my long career I have been very open and honest about many things,” Sharapova said, adding she was informed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) that the failed drug test was taken at this year’s Australian Open.

“I take great responsibility and professionalism in my job every single day, I made a huge mistake. I made a huge mistake, I let my fans down, I let the sport down that I’ve been playing since the age four,” the 28-year-old said.

The Russian explained that the positive test result was caused by the drug meldonium, which she had been legally taking for the last 10 years and was only included on the forbidden list on January 1, 2016.

“I know that with this, I face consequences, and I don’t want to end my career this way. I really hope I will be given another chance,” Maria said. “I can’t blame anyone for it but myself. At the end of the day, everything you do is about you.”

Maria said that she received an email from World Ant-Doping Agency (WADA) with the list of substances forbidden in 2016 back in December, but she “didn’t look at that list.”

Sharapova added she would have never retired at a hotel with “this fairly ugly carpet.”

Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP) has issued a statement confirming that Sharapova “was charged on 2 March with an Anti-Doping Rule Violation” after testing positive for meldonium.

“As meldonium is a non-specified substance under the WADA (and, therefore, TADP) list of Prohibited Substances and Prohibited Methods, Ms. Sharapova will be provisionally suspended with effect from 12 March, pending determination of the case,” TADP said.

Maria Sharapova was born in 1987 in the town on Nyagan in Siberia’s Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region.

She has been playing tennis at the professional level since 2001, winning 35 career WTA tour titles.

Maria first became World No.1 in August of 2005 at the age of 18 and repeated the achievement four times, occupying the first spot in women’s tennis for a total of 21 weeks.

She’s the only Russian and the tenth female player ever to collect a Career Grand Slam, as she claimed the Australian Open, Wimbledon, the US Open and two French Open titles.

Sharapova won the Fed Cup with the Russian national team in 2008 and an Olympic silver medal in London in 2012.

Maria has also been at the top of Forbes’ list of wealthiest female athletes for over a decade, as her sporting achievements and good looks have helped the blond land lucrative advertising deals with top international brands.

At least 45 people, including civilians, have been killed in clashes between Islamist fighters and security forces during an insurgent attack on a Tunisian border town not far from a popular resort.

The town that came under attack, Ben Guerdan, is just 65km northeast of the island resort of Djerba. The Tunisian Army sealed off the resort and two border crossings with Libya, which is about 30km east of Ben Guerdan, the TAP state news agency said.

According to the Interior Ministry, among the dead were 28 militants, 10 members of the security forces and seven civilians.

It was not immediately clear whether the attackers came across the border, but the assault on Monday is sparking fears of violence spilling into Tunisia from Libya, which remains in chaos since the NATO-backed overthrow of its government in 2011.

The attack apparently targeted army and police barracks in Ben Guerdan. Footage shown by local TV showed Tunisian troops crouched in doorways and on rooftops, with gunshots audible in the background. Local residents said the bodies of slain militants were lying in the streets.

“I saw a lot of militants at dawn, they were running with their Kalashnikovs,” Hussein, a resident, told Reuters by telephone. “They said they were Islamic State (US, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and they came to target the army and the police.”

IS, which has its powerbase in Iraq and Syria, advanced into turbulent Libya last year. The terrorists, eyeing up the territory’s oil riches, took over the city of Sirte in the east and the surrounding areas.

It also claimed responsibility for high-profile terrorist attacks in the region last year, including a gun assault on the Bardo National Museum in Tunisia’s capital in March, a deadly gun attack on a beach in the resort city of Sousse in June, and bombing a presidential convoy in November.

Security concerns have dealt a serious blow to Tunisia’s tourist trade, which was a major source of income for the country.

Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

The Russian leader informed the President of Egypt about the ongoing efforts in the context of implementing the Joint Statement of Russia and the United States as co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group on the cessation of hostilities in Syria from February 27, 2016. Mr Putin stressed that compliance with the ceasefire conditions is a key factor in normalising the internal situation and alleviating the humanitarian situation.

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi expressed his high opinion of these steps and spoke in favour of an early start of the political process in the Syrian settlement under the UN aegis. It was agreed that Russia and Egypt will continue close cooperation in the framework of the International Syria Support Group.

The two leaders stressed the need to continue effective efforts to combat international terrorism, not only in Syria but also in Libya and Yemen.

Topical issues in Russian-Egyptian relations were also at the focus of the discussion. Mr Putin and Mr el-Sisi expressed their desire to further advance bilateral cooperation, including in energy and military technology.

The importance of creating all the necessary conditions for resuming Russian flights to Egypt and tourist exchanges was also stressed.

The presidents agreed to continue bilateral contacts at various levels.

One of the reactors at the Oconee Nuclear Station has been shut down after a series of explosions and a fire damaged a transformed on site. The operator declared the incident “unusual” but emphasized there was no threat of radiation release.

Emergency crews deployed at the scene have managed to contain the fire, and will remain at the scene to assist crews. Oconee Nuclear Station is a nuclear power plant located on Lake Keowee near Seneca, South Carolina.

“Unit #1 was shut down as a precaution,” Oconee County Emergency Management said in a statement. “There is NO POTENTIAL FOR RELEASE.”

The plant operator Duke Energy said that while “Unit 1 has been safely shutdown” the remaining “Units 2 and 3 continue to operate safely.”

Officials blamed the “unusual event” on electrical equipment failure inside a transformer they say was located outside the building.

Authorities urged the public stay away from the area as emergency personnel and Duke Energy staff work around the area. However they emphasized that there was no security risk that would require evacuations or traffic detours.

DETAILS TO FOLLOW

he transformer malfunctioned and caught fire at 3:20pm local time, and the “unusual event” was upgraded to an “alert” – a second level of emergency – at 4:58pm, according to the company.

Incidents falling to “alert” classification require outside interference from emergency services but pose “no threat to public safety,” the company explained.

The 15-by-12 foot transformer had been burning for approximately 30 minutes before fire crews and Oconee County Fire units responded, WYFF4 reports.

The intense flames and thick black smoke coming out of the transformer which was seen by many witnesses was reportedly due to the oil that was inside.

The blaze was completely extinguished with the help of local fire brigades, and had “no impact” on plant employees or the facility’s neighbors, while customers are not expected to suffer any power outages.

The operator announced it will be conducting a thorough investigation of the cause of the incident at an aging plant located on Lake Keowee that began operations in 1973.

Oconee is one of the largest nuclear power plants in the US with a capacity of some 2,600 megawatts and is the second to have its operating license extended for an additional twenty years.